You'll control the Mi Box with a handheld remote. Like Apple TV's remote, you can use voice commands to search for content, change channels, jump to shows and launch apps. Xiaomi says the Bluetooth remote also dobules as a controller for games.

You can buy the Mi Box at Xiaomi's website. The set-top box will also be available at Wal-Mart this month. Getting its first U.S. product into the country's largerst brick-and-mortar retailer should be a considerable help in introducing Xiaomi to U.S. audiences.

Xiaomi's ambitions go far beyond the set-top box market. The company is China's largest phone seller, and it's made a name for itself selling high-end phones at extremely competitive prices.Xiaomi has said it hopes to eventually sell phones in the U.S., with vice president Hugo Barra telling Bloomberg in August that a U.S. launch would happen "in the near future."